Les, I'm working on it but I can't seem to find the rear suspension travel for my donor bike. My whole rear suspension came from a 1995 GSXR 750. I have found that the shock travel is claimed at 67mm. It's difficult to measure the actual travel of the swingarm since my bike is together and it would be difficult to bottom out the suspension and measure it at the same time. I'll say this, due to that rising rate linkage, the suspension gets very progressive at the limit. I have never felt the rear bottom while riding.
As for feel, my setup is comfortable at anything up to highway speed. I suspect that I would want it to be firmer for racetrack use, but this bike isn't intended for that. Keep in mind that I rebuilt my rear shock with a Racetech Gold valve kit and installed the correct weight spring based on their recommendations. The only flaw that I have noticed with my current setup is very minor. If I encounter a series of closely spaced bumps, like expansion joints the dampening seems a little slow and it can't catch up. Racetech also sells a rebound separator valve that allows for independent adjustment of high and low speed dampening. I don't have this option currently, and I'm sure it would correct for this if properly adjusted. Actually, I set up my suspension according to Racetech's specs, and I haven't even tried to do a proper suspension setup yet. I'm quite happy with the feel and handling of my bike. Actually the limiting factor in cornering my bike is the header to ground clearance on the right side. I can easily touch the outside of the collector down in a right hand turn.
If I can find the specs for rear suspension travel, I'll report back. The GSXR was right next to the KZ when I measured for my pickup points. I tried to set it up just like the GSXR and I'm very close. Fortunately, that particular year Suzuki still has a double cradle frame like a KZ, so the installation was very straightforward.
Topic Author
